‘Decoding Antisemitism’ Research Project

Decoding Antisemitism (decoding-antisemitism.eu) is a multinational, interdisciplinary research project investigating the frequency, content and structure of antisemitic hate speech on news websites and social media platforms in the UK, France and Germany.

The majority of antisemitic hate posted online today does not come in explicit form, but is rather disguised through word play, jokes, analogies and so-called anti-Israel criticism.

Social media moderators are struggling against the complexity and variety of antisemitism online, meaning that hateful comments can remain on their platforms unhindered.

The Decoding Antisemitism project is researching innovative, technologically-enhanced ways to solve this problem, developing machine learning algorithms able to recognise antisemitism online – in both its explicit and disguised forms.

The sophistication of the Decoding Antisemitism’s classification process thus offers a revolutionary platform for the identification of antisemitic hate online.

The project publishes regular Discourse Reports, which present analyses of comments and posts responding to recent events which may trigger antisemitic responses. The most recent report looks at antisemitism in online reactions to protests against the introduction of Covid passports in France, and the trials of former concentration camp personnel in Germany. Previous reports have examined online responses to the Covid vaccine roll out in Israel, the escalation in the Middle East conflict in May 2021 and the EHRC report into antisemitism in the Labour party and Jeremy Corbyn’s subsequent suspension.

All discourse reports are available from the website. To join the Decoding Antisemitism mailing list, and to stay up to date with the latest news, send an email to news@decoding-antisemitism.eu.